Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) downplayed concerns over former President Trump getting revenge on his political opponents if he is reelected, despite Trump’s repeated promises to go after President Biden and others.
“Donald Trump has been the one that’s been very clear: that his vengeance is going to be by winning and making America great again. Not going after his political opponents,” Rubio, who is thought to be on the shortlist to be Trump’s vice presidential pick, said Sunday in a CNN “State of the Union” interview with Dana Bash.
Trump has repeatedly said he wants revenge against political opponents, saying rivals including Biden should be investigated by the Justice Department.
Last month, the former president said “sometimes revenge can be justified,” after previously calling for members of the House Jan. 6 Committee to be indicted.
Rubio insisted it was actually Democrats who had used the Justice Department against their opponents, claiming Trump’s legal cases are politically motivated.
“It is clear that we have reached an era where there are people in American politics who believe that our courts are now a weapon that can be used against their political opponents,” he said.
“You look at what their efforts and what they’ve done in the courts to persecute and prosecute Donald Trump,” he continued. “They tried to bankrupt him. They’ve tried to silence him. They’ve tried to jail him. They’ve gone after his allies every single day. Some of these are ridiculous charges.”
The senator also falsely said the Justice Department has not pursued cases against Democrats, which Bash corrected. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) have both been charged in bribary cases.
Trump’s talk of revenge has even raised worries within the Senate GOP. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) denounced the language in an interview with The Hill last month.
“This is not the direction we want this country to go,” he said. “I think it’s time for adults to take over with regard to the Senate, and it’s time for adults to take over in regards [to] how we treat the judicial climate in this country.
“I don’t want to see a tit for tat on prosecution. I think that’s the wrong direction. I think that’s the wrong path for us to go down,” Rounds said. “I think we’ve got to get back to what the Founding Fathers wanted in the first place, which is a judiciary which is not full of political appointees that are hard far left or hard far right.”
Rubio is considered to be among the finalists to be Trump’s running mate. He said Sunday that he doesn’t know if he will be the pick.